DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – For the second straight week the St. Scholastica football team will be away from Duluth when it faces Iowa Wesleyan University on Saturday.
Where:
Bob Evans Field at Mapleleaf Stadium – Mount Pleasant, Iowa
When:
Saturday at Noon
Live Video/Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/iw/
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 4-1, 4-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints racked up 659 yards of total offense and scored 27 points in the first en route to a dominating 62-19 victory over Martin Luther College on Saturday … The Saints scored three touchdowns in the span of 34 seconds in the first quarter … CSS rushed for a season-high 345 yards, which was the most yards rushing in a game since the 2013 season and the fourth-most all-time … The rushing attack was led by freshman
Teddy Gildersleeve (Osceola, Wis./Osceola HS), who had his first career 100-yard game with 125 yards on 11 carries … He averaged 11.4 yards per carry, which is the fourth-most in a game in program history … Sophomore wide receiver
Aaron Olson (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) tied a program record with three touchdown receptions with
Hunter Thompson (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) and
Zach Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) also each catching a TD pass.
Big Man TD: In Saturday's win,
senior left tackle Harry Griffin caught a throwback pass from Kyle Stepka (New Prague, Minn./New Prague HS) and made a couple of defenders miss for the team's third score of game.
Offensive Balance: For the first time in program history, St. Scholastica recorded at least 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing in the same game in the win over Martin Luther … The 659 yards of total offense were the fifth-most in a game in program history … CSS had four games of at least 500 yards of offense vs. Martin Luther.
Air Raid: Senior quarterback
Kyle Stepka (New Prague, Minn./New Prague HS) threw for a season-high 314 yards last Saturday and matched a season-high five TD passes … Stepka has thrown at least three touchdown passes in four straight games … He ranks seventh in NCAA Division III with 16 touchdown passes, fifth in passing yards per completion (17.9) and fifth for points responsible for (108) … One of his targets, sophomore
Aaron Olson (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) ranks fourth in the country with eight TD receptions … Olson was named the UMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
Plug-n-Play: Freshman defensive back
Joe Matthews (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) had to step in and kick for the Saints on Saturday and he proceeded to go 8-for-9 on extra-point attempts and averaged 53.0 yards per kickoff on his way to be named the UMAC Special Teams Player of the Week.
20 is the Magic Number: The Saints are 54-0 since 2010 when they score at least 20 points … The Saints are 2-18 all-time when they fail to reach 20 points with both wins coming against the University of Northwestern.
UMAC Streaks: The Saints will enter this weekend having won 34 straight UMAC games; a streak dating back to October 20, 2012 when they fell to Northwestern 14-13 at Ordean Stadium … That conference win streak is second-longest in NCAA Division III, behind Mount Union's (Ohio) 99 … The Saints will also carry a 25-game conference road winning streak into Saturday … The last time CSS lost a conference road game was at Martin Luther College on September 25, 2010.
UMAC Preseason Poll
1. St. Scholastica...................................... 81 points (9 First Place Votes)
2. Northwestern.......................................... 72 points (1 First Place Vote)
3. Greenville................................................ 57 points
4. Westminster............................................ 56 points
T-5. Eureka.................................................. 43 points
T-5. MacMurray........................................... 43 points
7. Crown....................................................... 42 points
8. Minnesota Morris................................... 30 points
9. Martin Luther........................................... 14 points
10. Iowa Wesleyan..................................... 12 points
Upcoming Opponent
Iowa Wesleyan Tigers
Record: 1-4, 1-3 UMAC
The Tigers hosted Northwestern last Saturday and led 15-7 at halftime, however the Eagles scored 18 points in the second half and scored the game-winning touchdown with 3:26 remaining in the fourth quarter to down Iowa Wesleyan 25-18 … The Tigers recorded 335 yards of offense against the conference's best defense, including 316 passing yards … Jeremy Gomez had six receptions for 150 yards and one score … Quarterback Raul Alvarez leads the second-best passing offense in the conference, averaging 203.2 yards per game and is completing 53.4 percent of his attempts … Gomez leads the UMAC averaging 103.8 receiving yards per games and is tied for the conference lead with 29 receptions … On the other side of the ball, the Tigers have the best pass defense statistically in the conference and rank fourth nationally … Iowa Wesleyan is only allowing 126 passing yards per game … Senior Darryl Smith is tied for the conference lead with three interceptions … Another senior Andrew Terrell-Rodriguez ranks fourth in the conference with 10 tackles per game and third with 8.5 tackles for a loss from his linebacker position.
Series History: CSS leads 3-0
Last Meeting: The Saints overwhelmed the Tigers last year at Public Schools Stadium, winning by a final of 41-7 … St. Scholastica has scored at least 41 points in all three meetings with Iowa Wesleyan.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will host the University of Northwestern for Homecoming 2016 on Saturday, October 15 at Public Schools Stadium.
